Date of Graduation

5-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts in Political Science

Degree Level

Undergraduate

Department

Political Science

Advisor/Mentor

Joshua Lee Mitchell

Committee Member

Karen Sebold

Second Committee Member

Brad G. Peter

Third Committee Member

Cory Mixdorf

Abstract

There are many considerations taken when siting major sports stadiums. Most literature, though, has focused on the political and economic considerations, the negative outcomes of using public money for private projects. However, geographic considerations play a major part in deciding where to site a stadium. These considerations are wide-ranging and can change with the times. This thesis determines ten modern site suitability criteria, and with them, creates a site suitability index using GIS to determine and quantify more and less suitable areas for stadium development. It applies this index to the Kansas City area, as the city is currently in the midst of years-long debates over where the future homes of the NFL’s Chiefs and MLB’s Royals will be. This thesis finds the suitability scores of twelve current and future sites and proposals, and proposes eight locations of its own, based on areas from the index with the highest scores.

Keywords

site suitability; stadium; Kansas City; GIS

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